A SULLIVAN COUNTY, NEW YORK, WOMAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED and charged with stealing an ambulance from a Catskills-area hospital.  Tammy Diescher, 46, had been transported from her home by an ambulance to Catskill Regional Medical Center for a mental evaluation and treatment shortly before noon on Sunday.

After waiting a while in the ER, the lady who has been dubbed “the impatient patient” got tired of waiting and walked out of the hospital wearing nothing but a hospital gown.  Just outside the ER entrance she found an ambulance belonging to the Town of Liberty Volunteer Ambulance Corps sitting there with the keys in the ignition and the engine running.  She then got into the ambulance and drove away.

A few minutes later the amb. crew came out and found their truck missing, then they notified dispatch who put out an alert to all local police agencies.  A short time later a state trooper spotted the vehicle and made the apprehension.

TOLVAC website photo

Several news agencies reported on the incident, but some details were incorrect in their stories, according to the TOLVAC.  The ambulance corps then issued a press release with the corrected story TOLD HERE.

The press release also states that the stolen unit is a 10-yr.-old BLS unit and is the only vehicle in the fleet that does not have an anti-theft ignition device.  Its replacement vehicle is scheduled for delivery within the next two months.